2 HELD IN SLAYING AT BOCA SUB SHOP

BOCA RATON -- Douglas Rebman, detectives say, was robbed and killed in his restaurant by a former employee who needed money to buy a car and did not want to be recognized.

Detectives arrested two Deerfield Beach men on Monday afternoon in connection with the armed robbery and murder early Saturday at Subway Sandwiches in the 400 block of North Federal Highway.

Detectives say that Fred Riley III, 22, killed Rebman, co-owner of the restaurant and Riley's former boss, for $100 for a down-payment on a new car.

The arrests of Riley and Linell Eugene Feagin, the getaway driver, on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery, closed the first homicide case in Boca Raton this year.

"We just thank God, we found them," Boca Raton police spokesman Mike Genay said. "It's a terrible, terrible tragedy. They (the suspects) got all of $100 out of it."

About 1:10 a.m. Saturday, police went to the restaurant after two customers discovered Rebman lying on the floor behind the lunch counter. When police arrived, Rebman, 25, of Pompano Beach, was still alive. Rebman was flown to Delray Community Hospital, where he died a short time later.

Detectives began an around-the-clock search for the killers.

"At one point, we had developed Riley as a suspect and questioned him, but he denied any involvement," Genay said.

But Riley did not plan on Feagin, 20, going to a Broward sheriff's deputy, an acquaintance, to confess his role in the robbery.

Feagin told Broward County Sheriff's Deputy Butch Santy that he gave Riley a snub-nosed, .38-caliber handgun about two weeks before the armed robbery, officials said. On Saturday, Feagin waited in the car during the robbery.

On their way home after the robbery, Feagin said Riley talked about the killing, describing step-by-step what happened.

"Doug was washing dishes in the rear of the shop, and when he saw Riley and the gun, he dropped to his knees and raised his hands in the air," according to the arrest report. "Riley held the gun to his head and made him go and open the cash register. Riley said he took $100 from the register."

After forcing Rebman to open the safe, which was empty, Riley shot Rebman in the head and fled the store, police said.

During their drive home, Riley smelled the spent bullet casing that was used to shoot Rebman. He also tested the surgical gloves he used during the robbery on the windshield to see if they would leave prints.

Riley also bragged about the robbery to Feagin's nephew, Richard Williams, police said. Williams said that he met Riley a few days before the robbery and talked about his plans, police said.

Riley told Williams that he would enter the store, jump the counter and put a gun to Rebman's head, according to Williams' statement to police.

Riley also said that because he had worked for Rebman at the sandwich shop, he knew that there was no tape in the video camera and also knew where $100 was hidden in a drawer. Riley said he would not take that money because it might make police suspicious that a former employee committed the robbery.

When Boca Raton police first questioned Riley, he told police he was working at a Boca Raton grocery store until 8 p.m. Friday, then visited with Williams. At first, Williams verified Riley's alibi. But when Feagin talked, Williams changed his story. Williams told police that Riley was not with him in Deerfield Beach at the time of the shooting.

Police recovered the gun thought to have been used to shoot Rebman at Feagin's home in an outside storage shed. At Williams' home, police said they also found a pair of surgical gloves and a mask believed to have been used in the robbery.

Riley and Feagin were taken to the Palm Beach County Jail on Monday, where they are being held without bail.